Capstone Fall Preparatory Course

The SIPAU8000 fall Capstone Consultancy Project Management Course is the first of a two-course sequence. The second course is the Capstone Workshop (SIPAU9000). The fall short course is designed to orient students to the core objectives of their Capstone project and provide key trainings such as Client Engagement Strategies and Project Management.  

The course will allow the Capstone team: 

• To meet with their faculty advisor for an orientation to the project and to design a preliminary work plan outlining the methodology for the Capstone project.
• Have an initial introduction to the client contacts.
• Participate in training sessions delivered by the Office of Academic Affairs.
• For teams with international travel, submit initial travel memo to Capstone Office for review.  Teams that are approved to travel will be able to book the majority of their travel through SIPA during the winter break.      

Students will need to budget in extra time for work on the project from the week of 11/14/2024-12/11/2024.  Therefore, any internships or other work that can be front loaded to make time during this last month of the semester is highly encouraged. 

IMPORTANT CHANGE FOR J-TERM/FALL GRADUATES: To increase the access fall graduates have to Capstone projects, the workshops will be consolidated into the spring semester only and fall graduates will be considered as equal priority to spring graduates. There will only be spring Capstone projects going forward and we will no longer offer fall projects, instead giving fall graduates equal priority and guaranteed placement on a spring project.

All J-term students graduating at the end of Fall 2025 semester must apply in October 2024 for a Spring 2025 Capstone project. 

Students do not need to register for the fall Capstone Consultancy Project Management Course. Students will automatically be registered for it once accepted to a Capstone project. Students must apply for the Capstone workshop program. The application dates and directions for the application will be announced in October, 2024. 

If you are a Fall 2025 graduate, you MUST APPLY for a Spring 2025 Capstone project during the October 2024 application window.  Fall graduates will now be considered as equal priority to spring graduates and are guaranteed a place on a spring project. With the addition of the fall short course, all Capstone projects have been consolidated to the spring semester. There will not be an offering of fall capstone projects for Fall 2025. Students who plan to graduate at the end of the Fall 2025 term must complete their Capstone requirement in Spring 2025. 

Yes- successful completion of the fall Capstone Consultancy Project Management course is required for enrollment in a spring Capstone.  

Student feedback has overwhelmingly indicated that the spring semester alone is too condensed for the best execution of the projects. The fall short course will not add any additional work to the Capstone project, but it will extend the time that teams have on the project. This will allow teams to better refine the project scope of work through the completion of a preliminary work plan in the fall term and will add extended time at the end of the spring semester to have a longer editing process for the final deliverables.  

Because the success of the Capstone workshop is reliant on the full participation of each member of the team, attendance in weekly class sessions is required.  Students who miss more than 2 unexcused classes throughout the duration of the project may be dismissed from the project and will receive a failing grade for the workshop.

The sessions will be held by Zoom unless otherwise indicated by your faculty advisor.  Please note that this is only in use for the fall semester.  During the spring semester, each Capstone workshop will have an assigned classroom and will be expected to meet regularly in their scheduled classroom or as indicated by the faculty advisor.  Please check the Project Terms of Reference and the Capstone Project Schedule for the specific time that each Capstone workshop is scheduled for in the fall and spring semesters. 

Your transcript will reflect that you have completed the Capstone Consultancy Project Management core requirement.  This will be a pass/fail zero credit course for students. 

Students are graded individually. This will be a pass/fail course for students.  

Grades for the workshop will be based on the following criteria: 

• Quality of participation in class. Overall professionalism, including attendance, timeliness, ability to work with a team, etc. (20%)
• Quality of team’s project work plan (80%)

Classes will take place the weeks of November 11, 18, 25 and December 2 for one hour and fifty minutes each week.

 

In addition, all Capstone participants will be required to attend one of the two training sessions on Client Engagement Strategies and Project Management.

• Week of November 11, 2024: First meeting for Capstone team 
• Week of November 11, 2024 (specific date TBD): Client Engagement Strategies | 1:00- 2:00pm on Zoom (all students must attend one of the two sessions offered)
• Week of November 18, 2024: Client orientation meeting with students
• Week of November 25, 2024: Program Management Training Session | 1:00 - 2:00pm on Zoom (all students must attend one of the two sessions offered)
• Week of November 25, 2024: Client orientation meeting 
• Week of December 2, 2024: Capstone team meeting to begin to develop the preliminary work plan for the project
• Week of December 2, 2024: International Travel Meeting 
• Week of December 2, 2024: International Security Travel Meeting 
• December 10, 2024: Preliminary work plan submitted to faculty advisor.  Teams with international travel must submit their travel memos to the Capstone Office.

No, students enrolling in the EPD Workshop will do the initial work on their projects through a different fall course.  For more information on the EPD Workshop, please contact Prof. Eugenia McGill ([email protected]) or Ilona Vinklerova ([email protected]).

MIA, MPA and MPA-DP students will apply for apply for a spring project in mid-October 2024 for enrollment in the Capstone Workshops. Application link and project descriptions will be available in mid-October. Teams will be announced in early November. Students will automatically be registered for the fall and spring Capstone courses when they are accepted to a Capstone project.

With the addition of the FALL Capstone Consultancy Project Management Course, the workshop will officially begin the week of November 11th. 

Please note that the EPD Workshop in Development Practice has a different timeline and application process. If you have questions about the EPD workshops, please contact Prof. Eugenia McGill ([email protected]) or Ilona Vinklerova ([email protected]).

If you have further questions, please reach out to your advising deans. For Capstone specific questions, please write to [email protected].